The process of baling agricultural crops starts when the crop is cut or mowed and laid onto the ground in an arrangement to aid drying. After reaching an initial dried condition, the process typically includes a raking step where the crop is formed into a windrow to enhance the final drying process. Since the capacity of balers is affected by the form and size of the final windrow, the raking process is also used to arrange the crop into a windrow that is optimized for baling.
The raking process often involves collecting the crop material over a wide swath to increase the density of the crop in the final windrow of an adjustable width. It is common to use twin rakes, including left and right side rakes that move material toward the center, thereby efficiently forming the desirable final windrow.
The frame that carries the side rakes of a wide twin rake must provide adequate flotation to allow the raking elements to follow variations in the terrain. They also need to position the raking baskets to provide varying windrow widths and to move between a folded transport configuration and an extended operating configuration; the frames thus typically include a folding linkage, a windrow width linkage, and a lift linkage.
Present day folding rakes require manual operations for folding. Manual folding is inconvenient, requires that the rake be placed on nearly level, smooth ground, and necessitates some strength. A small, ill, or injured operator may not be able to provide the forces needed to fold the rake on some terrain.
Therefore, there is a need for a folding rake frame wherein only a single hydraulic source is used for the folding operation, and wherein the operator may carry out the folding from the tractor seat.